


the witch's eye

by UnsquareDance



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, BAMF Eren, Eren Yeager Has Heterochromia Iridum, Levi isn't really an ass, M/M, Multi, Various Side Relationships - Freeform, Witch!Eren, Witches, because it's pretty and you can't stop me, but in a cool witchy way, he's just skeptical
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 15:56:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14622066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnsquareDance/pseuds/UnsquareDance
Summary: When Levi first heard that they’d be carting around a witch for the next six months, he’d scoffed. He’d met his fair share of witches—old, bizarre men and women who lived on the outskirts of society in crumbling hovels and deep within caves, were never ones for conversation, and weren't known for their hygiene; they were rarely what the stories chalked them up to be.Needless to say, Eren Jaeger was not what he'd expected.-Inspired by Monsoon's Witch's Vein and Blood Stains (but it's completely different)! Just realized I thought their name was mongoose. Planning to post a chapter a week.





	the witch's eye

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Witch's Vein and Blood Stains](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4889464) by [Monsoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monsoon/pseuds/Monsoon). 



Eren wasn’t wearing any shoes.

He could feel the loose dirt between his toes; a sharp rock was stabbing into the ball of his foot and had been for five minutes, but he hadn’t moved. It was cold out there, and windy. It was almost as if he could trace the path of the breeze through the air, but he just stared out into nothing.

They called it the witching hour for good reason. Out there, in the dead of night, everything had come alive. The trees below him were shaking, only barely illuminated by the moon. The stars were all there. It was like they’d all come out to say hello.

Or goodbye.

 

* * *

 

When Levi first heard that they’d be carting around a witch for the next six months, he’d scoffed. He’d met his fair share of witches—old, bizarre men and women who lived on the outskirts of society in crumbling hovels and deep within caves, were never ones for conversation, and weren't known for their hygiene; they were rarely what the stories chalked them up to be.

Witches were territorial and unwelcoming to those they didn’t know, prepared to throw a cheap, malfunctioning hex at anyone a step past their gate. Aside from their faulty spells, they had little to defend themselves; it took decades to become half-decent, and it wasn’t uncommon for a witch to hit sixty before graduating to advanced spellwork. Levi wasn’t about to drag a cranky old charmcaster around for half a year just so they could ‘keep an eye out’ in the Forest.

Erwin had insisted, though; the Forest wasn’t something to take lightly. Even Levi could admit to that, and Erwin had argued tooth and nail that they’d be fools to walk in unprepared. The rest of his team seemed eager to accept their new addition, and Petra’s judgemental eyes were what finally broke his resolve. _If we lose some old hag out in the woods,_ he’d thought, _it’s not my damn fault._

Needless to say, the boy standing before his squad was not what he’d been expecting. He’d thought Erwin would at least _try_ to bring in someone experienced, but the boy—yes, the _boy_ —couldn’t have been older than twenty years old. He showed up out of nowhere, later than he should have, hovering by the treeline like a nymph—in fact, if he’d claimed he was a Forest sprite, Levi would have believed him. He was lithe and tall like the trees he’d come from, earthy from head to toe with tan skin and umber hair, as if he’d manifested from the soil just moments before walking into their camp.

He hadn’t said a word yet. Levi could only mark him as a witch from the insignia on the brown bag he held in his right hand. The boy stood still on the sidelines, silently gazing over them with a vacant stare from beneath the hood of his dark green cape. Levi looked from the man to his left, Erwin, to the boy and back again, hoping for some kind of explanation or introduction, but Erwin merely smiled like he was waiting for something.

As if on cue, the boy seemed to fall out of whatever trance he’d been in; his shoulders straightened slightly and he raised his chin to look at the fire and the team sitting around it with newfound awareness. With his face now in full view and free of shadows, something set Levi on edge—for a second he couldn’t place what caused the unnerving notion that something was wrong, but he soon realized—the boy’s eyes were two different colors. From where Levi sat, it seemed as if whoever had created the witch before him had forgotten to paint his left eye.

Before he could look closer, the boy turned back to the Forest. Levi almost thought he was going to walk straight back to where he came from, but instead the witch bowed deeply into the trees and pulled a vial from his pocket. He uncorked the top and poured a dark liquid into the soil just within the treeline, and held his bow for a moment longer. Levi realized he was murmuring something beneath his breath, but no matter how much he strained his ears, he couldn’t hear what the boy was saying.

The camp had barely breathed since the boy appeared. Ten sets of eyes were trained on the witch’s back as he straightened up, corked the bottle, and turned to face his audience. He seemed unsure of what to say for a moment, glancing at Erwin like Levi had in hopes he would dissolve the awkward, hesitant air around the camp.

When it became clear that Erwin was content to simply watch the scene unfold, the boy sighed minutely and spoke.

“I’m Eren.” His voice wasn’t quiet like Levi expected from his fae-like entrance and hesitation; he was confident, his words carrying easily despite the heavy wind and crackling fire. Eren lowered his hood.“I’m the witch assigned to lead your team through the Forest.”

 

* * *

 

Auruo was the first to speak. “Aren’t you a little young?” he asked, eyes narrowed in an overly obvious display of suspicion. Eren stared back with his disconcerting eyes as if daring him to go on, a hint of anger in his features. Auruo pushed further anyways. “I thought you were supposed to protect us. How are you gonna do that if you’re just some kid?”

Auruo’s lack of tact aside, Levi had to admit he’d been wondering the same thing; he didn't believe the boy could cast a simple benediction, let alone perform offensive magic.

Eren huffed an affronted laugh. Levi could see the boy trying to keep his frustration in check, shoulders tense and brows pinched. When he spoke, though, it was as if he’d never felt an ounce of anger in his life. “I’m not your average village witch.”

Auruo looked unconvinced, but Eren didn’t seem willing to go on. There was a brief stand-off between the two, both staring with suppressed irritation, before Erwin finally intervened.

“Auruo, you’ll come to see that Eren’s something special. I wouldn’t get on his bad side if I were you.” Auruo scoffed but relented, breaking off his glare to look petulantly into the fire. “Eren, you can put your things into the cart over there,” he pointed to the supply wagon, “and join us here. I, personally, would like to hear why your arrival was delayed. I’ve never known you to be late.”

Eren nodded, and began his story as he went to put his meager possessions away. “I came here by dowsing, in a way.” He glanced over to see if anyone understood his meaning. He was met with blank stares. “It’s like… normally it’s used to find veins of minerals or water sources, but if you know how it’s done, it can bring you anywhere.” He set the bag he’d been carrying and an old, worn rucksack in the cart. “You’re supposed to use a rod or a pendulum or something, usually. The way energy travels—well, it’s really complicated and I’m not great at explaining—but it sort of acts as a natural guide. Like, the Forest knows your energy is here, and when you use a rod it can direct you to what you’re looking for. Does that make sense?”

Hanji nodded vigorously, hanging on to his every word. Eren took a seat on Erwin’s other side while the rest of the team hesitantly nodded along as if to say, _Yes, we totally and completely get what you’re saying. For sure._

“Okay. You’re supposed to use a rod because just letting the Forest take you where you’re meant to be is sort of dangerous—the Forest isn’t always trying to help you. Using your body to dowse makes it easier to get where you’re going because you don’t have to interpret any signals from the dowsing rod, but it’s really just… you let the Forest move your body. It could bring you anywhere if it feels like it, walk you off a cliff or into a creature’s den, and you wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop it. Most people don’t want to take that risk.”

“But you do?” Levi asked. It sounded like Eren knew what he was talking about, but Levi didn’t want some reckless idiot getting them into trouble. Either Eren didn’t notice his skepticism or didn’t care, because he met his stare with an even gaze and answered unperturbed.

“I do. I’ve lived here since I was a child. The Forest knows me, and I trust it to take me where I need to go.”

“So why were you late?” Eren looked at Levi, really looked at him, for the first time. Maybe he’d caught the accusatory edge to his voice or maybe he thought it was a good question; Levi couldn’t tell. If you asked him, Levi couldn’t say what exactly put him off about Eren. There was just something in him that needed to know more.

Eren shrugged. “Sometimes dowsing takes longer than you plan for. You guys did a good job with the charms you put around your camp; the Forest had a hard time finding you.”

“Really?!” Hanji’s voice broke Eren’s barely-controlled calm for the first time—he nearly fell off his chair as the scientist jumped up and ran to his side, leaning into his space until he was obviously uncomfortable. Levi wondered if that was an accident or some strange power move. “Did I really do a good job?”

Eren smiled, albeit a little nervously, as he answered. “You managed to put off the Forest for a good few hours. There are a lot of witches older than you who couldn’t do that.”

Hanji was nearly crying, they were so overjoyed. Levi was beginning to worry they might collapse into the witch’s arms when Petra turned to Eren with a question.

“You said you’ve lived in there since you were a child?” she asked from Levi’s right, a concerned frown tugging on her lips. “How did you...?”

Her question petered out unfinished as Eren caught her gaze, a grin forming on his lips. It was wicked in a way; there were secrets in his smile, and the light dancing off his half-painted eyes made him seem nearly inhuman.

“How did I survive?” he asked.

Petra nodded, and Eren grinned wider.

“It’s like I said. I’m not your average witch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> If you'd like an idea of what I imagine the Forest to look like, you can see it in a video by DaveTrippin on YouTube called "The Winter Witch 4K." He's wandering through the Hananuki Valley in Japan. The video itself is pretty clever and cool, and you should give it a watch if you have the time!
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter in the comments!


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